Safe Routes to School E-News
Issue #130: December 2016
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- Election Results: What It Means for Safe Routes to School and Healthy Communities
- Safe Routes to School Healthy Heroes Spotlight: Kathy Durham and Penny Ellson
- The Role of Safe Routes to School in Protecting Kids from Hateful Harassment and Bullying
- Register for Our Next Webinar: How to Start a Walking School Bus at Your School
- Community Members Weigh In on $33 Million in Projects in Portland Metro Region
- Active Schools Fundraising: Gear Up for Spring 2017!
- Featured Partner: PeopleForBikes
- Save the Date for our Next #MoveEquity Tweetchat
- Special Holiday Offers from Our Partners
1. Election Results: What It Means for Safe Routes to School and Healthy Communities
There is a lot to digest from the results of the 2016 elections. Read our federal policy blog for more about key changes in members of Congress, candidates for the next Transportation Secretary, and policies that might be on tap in 2017—and how it could impact Safe Routes to School and healthy communities.
2. Safe Routes to School Healthy Heroes Spotlight: Kathy Durham and Penny Ellson
Did you know that the late Apple innovator and CEO Steve Jobs' dream was for his son to ride his bike to work as a doctor at Stanford? Jobs lived with his family in Palo Alto, home of the first bicycle boulevard, where more than half of Palo Alto’s neighborhood elementary school students walk, roll, carpool or take public transit to school. For parents like Jobs, and for many Safe Routes to School visionaries, active commuting is part our shared dream to ‘ride a bike and smile more.’
But Palo Alto wasn’t always the thriving walking and bicycling community that it is today. In the 1980’s and early 90’s, walking and bicycling school commutes were on the decline nationally. Palo Alto was no exception. The more parents drove, the less safe parents thought it was to let children walk or roll to school.
What happened next? A team of visionary parents, including Kathy Durham and Penny Ellson, were determined to reverse this trend. Read more about how they built a thriving Safe Routes to School program where 53 percent of elementary students engage in active commuting to school.
3. The Role of Safe Routes to School in Protecting Kids from Hateful Harassment and Bullying
Over the last few weeks, our country has seen an alarming increase in hate-motivated slurs and attacks. Safe Routes to School programs have a significant role to play in rejecting bullying and harassment based on race, ethnicity, or gender, with a disturbingly large number happening to kids in school settings. Working with students and guided by school protocols, Safe Routes to School coordinators and volunteers need to set expectations for how children and adults behave towards each other in public and school settings. That means showing kids by example and through direct conversation that people can disagree with each other without being hateful or hurtful. Read more in our blog post about how Safe Routes to School programs can reject hateful bullying.
4. Register for Our Next Webinar: How to Start a Walking School Bus at Your School
Join this webinar to learn about the Safe Routes Partnership’s new toolkit, Step by Step: How to Start a Walking School Bus at Your School, an easy-to-follow guide to getting a walking school bus up and “walking” in your community! During this webinar, we will introduce the concept of a walking school bus, review how to use the toolkit, and provide time for communities to ask questions about planning their program.
5. Community Members Weigh in on $33 Million in Projects in Portland Metro Region
The metropolitan planning organization covering the Portland region – which encompasses Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington Counties – recently invited the community to help decide which walking, bicycling, and freight projects should be funded from Metro’s regional flexible funds.Metro received applications for 32 projects requesting more than $100 million, including requests for more than $30 million that would benefit student travel and access. The Pacific Northwest regional Safe Routes to School network promoted and encouraged partners to weigh in on the prioritization. More than 3,500 individuals submitted comments during a 30-day comment period, ending on November 7. Final funding decisions for the 32 projects submitted will be finalized by the Metro Council in early 2017. See how regional leaders and the community prioritized projects here.
6. Active Schools Fundraising: Gear Up for Spring 2017!
Get ready to fundraise this spring for your school or organization! Active Schools Fundraising provides the online platform where you create a school group/program team page and personalized student or family fundraising pages. Create your activity, then customize your page and select emails to send to friends and family or promote via social media – and before you know it, you'll have reached your goal! Plus, you have the chance to win prizes and access to partner discounts and promotions. Click here to learn more and sign up.
7. Featured Partner: PeopleForBikes
Since our inception in 2005, PeopleForBikes has provided generous grants for general operating support of the Safe Routes Partnership. PeopleForBikes was formed in 1999 as the national coalition of bicycle retailers and suppliers working to put more people on bikes more often. U.S. bicycle companies recognized that they could accomplish more for bicycling by working together than by working independently. From helping create safe places to ride to promoting bicycling, PeopleForBikes carefully selects projects and partnerships that have the capacity to make a difference. A big thank you to our friends and colleagues at PeopleForBikes for your support!
Vote for Bikes Update
PeopleForBikes supported ballot initiatives across the country that resulted in more funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Read a recap of the outcomes in a recent blog post and check out the whole list of measures on their Vote for Bikes page.
8. Save the Date for Our Next #MoveEquity Tweetchat
Join us for a #MoveEquity tweetchat on Safe Routes to Healthy food on Wednesday, December 14 at 1:00 pm ET with our partners The Food Trust, America Walks, Salud America!, Voices for Healthy Kids, and Active Living Research.
9. Special Holiday Offers from Our Partners
Take advantage of special holiday offers from our partners Skillastics and Fitivities, I'm Safe, and Dero Bike Racks. Proceeds support the Safe Routes Partnership.